Skip to Content

How to Trigger Actions and Shortcuts By Tapping the Back of Your iPhone

by

In iOS 14 and later, Apple includes an accessibility feature called Back Tap that lets you assign an action to be triggered when you double-tap or triple-tap the back of your iPhone. This article explains how it's done.

iphone 11 pro hands on
There are numerous actions that you can assign to a Back Tap on ‌iPhone‌. You could use it for quick access to something –- launching a specific app or invoking the Control Center, for example. You could set a Back Tap to turn Rotation Lock on/off, activate Zoom, bring up the Camera, or even trigger a shortcut.

To assign an action to a double-tap or triple-tap of the back of your ‌iPhone‌, follow the steps below. Note that Back Tap requires an ‌iPhone‌ 8 or newer model running iOS 14 or later.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your ‌iPhone‌.
  2. Tap Accessibility.
  3. Under "Physical and Motor," tap Touch.
    settings

  4. Scroll down and tap Back Tap.
  5. Tap Double Tap or Triple Tap to set an action to trigger.
  6. Select the action from the list that you want to trigger when you double or triple-tap the back of your ‌iPhone‌.
    settings

After assigning an action to a Back Tap using the above steps, the Back Tap is immediately ready to use. Try it out, and see just how convenient it can be for performing a variety of actions.

Popular Stories

MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

First MacBook Neo Benchmarks Are In: Here's How It Compares to the M1 MacBook Air

Thursday March 5, 2026 4:07 pm PST by
Benchmarks for the new MacBook Neo surfaced today, and unsurprisingly, CPU performance is almost identical to the iPhone 16 Pro. The MacBook Neo uses the same 6-core A18 Pro chip that was first introduced in the iPhone 16 Pro, but it has one fewer GPU core. The MacBook Neo earned a single-core score of 3461 and a multi-core score of 8668, along with a Metal score of 31286. Here's how the...
MacBook Neo Feature Pastel 1

Apple Announces $599 'MacBook Neo' With A18 Pro Chip

Wednesday March 4, 2026 6:15 am PST by
Apple today announced the "MacBook Neo," an all-new kind of low-cost Mac featuring the A18 Pro chip for $599. The MacBook Neo is the first Mac to be powered by an iPhone chip; the A18 Pro debuted in 2024's iPhone 16 Pro models. Apple says it is up to 50% faster for everyday tasks than the bestselling PC with the latest shipping Intel Core Ultra 5, up to 3x faster for on-device AI workloads,...
Multicolored Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature

Apple Accidentally Leaks 'MacBook Neo'

Tuesday March 3, 2026 7:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have prematurely revealed the name of its rumored lower-cost MacBook model, which is expected to be announced this Wednesday. A regulatory document for a "MacBook Neo" (Model A3404) has appeared on Apple's website. Unfortunately, there are no further details or images available yet. While the PDF file does not contain the "MacBook Neo" name, it briefly appeared in a link...